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Friday, July 13, 2012

Adorkable by Sarra Manning

Title: AdorkableAuthor: Sarra Manning

Release Date: 24th May 2012

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian's 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World. And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane's boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can't she stop kissing him?

In A Nutshell:I loved Adorkable and found it to be lots of fun at the same time as trying to show readers that all that matters, is to be true to yourself.

My Review:Adorkable’s alternating chapters tells us the story of Michael and Jeane from each of their points of view. It was really interesting because my opinion of each of them kept changing from when I saw them do something through their own eyes, and then see it counteracted through the other. This is especially so since their relationship begins as a love-hate relationship and continues that way throughout the book. I was particularly judgemental of Jeane but I slowly began to see her from not only her and Michael’s point of view, but the way I interpreted her from the comments made by Michael’s mother. I went from thinking she was self-absorbed and so full of it, to respecting her for making her life about something and for being smart and sassy, and somewhat independent, but also feeling sorry for her for growing up in such an unhappy, soul-sucking family.

For Jeane, being adorkable is who she is. If someone doesn’t like her, then that’s their problem. But, she also puts up a shield to protect herself from getting hurt and being rejected in a way similar to when she was growing up, it is a somewhat false bravado. It is ok to be different and you are certainly not alone. You just have to remember to let people in because not everyone is out to hurt you.

Adorkable is a story about being true to yourself. That no matter how geeky, dorky, fashionable, or unpopular you are, you are not alone. It’s about being who you are and not giving a damn what anyone else thinks. High school is one of the hardest places to survive mentally and sometime physically but it is important to remember that it doesn’t last forever. When you leave, you discover that there is a big, wide world out there and there are people just like you. People you want to be friends with because they have the same interests, beliefs and/or values as you and people will want to be friends with you for you. High school is just one tiny part of your life and once you leave, it does get easier being yourself.

In short, I loved Adorkable and found it to be lots of fun at the same time as trying to show readers that all that matters, is to be true to yourself.